I was wondering how often the teams of the services above have players put forward in the draft. I noticed this year that there were none. I've also noticed that they all play in the specialist conference, along with Notre Dame. My last question is whether all the players who play for the US armed forces attend their respected military colleges and are in fact trainee service men, and whether this of course hinders their putting themselves forward for the NFL.

I appreciate this ignores the main question, but Air Force are in the Mountain West. The others are not in a 'specialist conference', they are Independent and don't partake in any type of conference play.

As to the main question, there was one guy recently (Caleb Campbell?) who the Lions drafted, but he went to serve. I think I read that he is now back with the Lions this year, whether he has a shot of making the team after a couple of years away, I don't know.

Players in these teams have commited to serve a term in the service, so very rarely they get drafted. There has been a few times where the NFL team has tried to convince the Army/Navy/Air Force to let them out of service, but it doesn't happen often.

When Caleb Campbell got drafted I thought he initially joined the Lions, but was then required to return to the forces (army?),.. This owing to a change in some policy or another which meant that drafted service players were now required to honour their military obligations first, where previously they hadn't been,... Must admit I'm by no means certain about that though, I just vaguely remember reading some stuff about it a couple of years ago, in relation to Campbell,....

Players in these teams have commited to serve a term in the service, so very rarely they get drafted. There has been a few times where the NFL team has tried to convince the Army/Navy/Air Force to let them out of service, but it doesn't happen often.

So does it mean that they are restricted to play if the players will join teams other than the mentioned services?
How long then they should remain on that team?

I was wondering how often the teams of the services above have players put forward in the draft. I noticed this year that there were none. I've also noticed that they all play in the specialist conference, along with Notre Dame. My last question is whether all the players who play for the US armed forces attend their respected military colleges and are in fact trainee service men, and whether this of course hinders their putting themselves forward for the NFL.

Thanks!

Matthew

"Army" "Navy" and "Air Force" are the teams of the respective service academies.

Army refers just to the US Military Academy at West Point NY (which a one Benedict Arnold famously tried to surrender to, eh... you people). Navy is the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, and the Air Force Academy is in Colorado Springs, CO.

The service academies are essentially colleges, which is why they play college football. They enroll kids who graduate high school and have a 4 year curriculum. Those who graduate from a service academy are officers in the US Military (commissioned as Lieutenants and required to serve a certain number of years). They are not enlisted men, and only cadets/ensigns who are in the academies can play for those teams.

Few random side notes:
- The Marine Corps is part of the Navy, so Marine officers are trained at the Naval Academy
- The military academies are the only college ran directly by the federal government
- There is also a federally ran Coast Guard and Merchant Marine Academy, but they play small school (Division III) football and aren't well known
- Schools like Virginia Military Institute and The Citadel are state ran... graduates can become officers in the military, but don't have to. They actually become officers through ROTC, which most state colleges in the country have... whether they are "military schools" or not.

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Military Academies (Army/Navy) used to be very powerful at football. Back before the sport really took off and was truly an amateur sport, the academies had usually the fittest and most disciplined teams in the country, for obvious reasons.

These days they are required by law to recruit from all 50 states, and won't recruit athletes who aren't fit to be officers in the military.

In the 1930's-50's... schools didn't have 6'6" - 330 pound linemen like they do now... the Military Academies can't recruit that type of player... which is why they mostly all run the option. Also, because of service requirements, they can't recruit blue chip athletes who have a shot at the NFL. Navy has had pretty good success lately, and has a decent winning % against mid-level teams... but they are far from powerhouses these days.

When Caleb Campbell got drafted I thought he initially joined the Lions, but was then required to return to the forces (army?),.. This owing to a change in some policy or another which meant that drafted service players were now required to honour their military obligations first, where previously they hadn't been,... Must admit I'm by no means certain about that though, I just vaguely remember reading some stuff about it a couple of years ago, in relation to Campbell,....

I heard about that in the sports news, he had no choice but to go back and do his time, which is sadly how it should be and no doubt why Forces players don't get drafted. It's business at the end of the day, if you're paying for someone to come to OTA once then ship off to Afghan then you're not getting your moneys worth sadly.

I heard about that in the sports news, he had no choice but to go back and do his time, which is sadly how it should be and no doubt why Forces players don't get drafted. It's business at the end of the day, if you're paying for someone to come to OTA once then ship off to Afghan then you're not getting your moneys worth sadly.

You say that, but when I was in the British army, (Christ it's nearly 10 years since I left, that makes me feel really old,..,..),... if they had someone who so excelled at particular sport that they had an opportunity to do it professionally the army was usually happy to release them from their military commitment, I think it was viewed that the sports man/woman was a good advert for the forces by doing so,.... Obviously I don't know for sure the Brit army still allow this though,....

You say that, but when I was in the British army, (Christ it's nearly 10 years since I left, that makes me feel really old,..,..),... if they had someone who so excelled at particular sport that they had an opportunity to do it professionally the army was usually happy to release them from their military commitment, I think it was viewed that the sports man/woman was a good advert for the forces by doing so,.... Obviously I don't know for sure the Brit army still allow this though,....

Lol, my dad was Royal Signals about 10 years ago and yeah it used to be like that anymore, but not anymore I doubt unless it's an extreme case

The best the forces offer nowadays is what the Royal Navy sometimes do, the guys who are on their various Field Guns team will be purposely posted into a slot which will help them with their Field Gun training, rather than being randomly posted elsewhere.

Sadly RAF don't do that, Army I would have thought operate a little like the Navy and will post people into a set post, but they won't release them from the duties, if they're goin to Afghan, then they're gona be on that Tristar come love nor money.

Lol, my dad was Royal Signals about 10 years ago and yeah it used to be like that anymore, but not anymore I doubt unless it's an extreme case

The best the forces offer nowadays is what the Royal Navy sometimes do, the guys who are on their various Field Guns team will be purposely posted into a slot which will help them with their Field Gun training, rather than being randomly posted elsewhere.

Sadly RAF don't do that, Army I would have thought operate a little like the Navy and will post people into a set post, but they won't release them from the duties, if they're goin to Afghan, then they're gona be on that Tristar come love nor money.

Sadly forces PR takes a back seat nowadays , sucks.

Aahh,... Fair one,.... Did wonder if I was being slightly 'out of date',..,.... Shame though,.....